By Claire Smith, Jay Richardson, Sally Stott

Published 10th Aug 2023, 19:10 GMT

Updated 10th Aug 2023, 19:16 GMT

Laser Kiwi: Rise of the Olive, Assembly Roxy (Venue 139) ****

Until 27 August

One of the joys of the Edinburgh Fringe is watching an act you have seen in a tiny tent move to a big auditorium where they can expand their imaginations and stretch their talents. Laser Kiwi are a trio from New Zealand who specialise in circus acts with a surreal, comic and poetic twist. Degge Jarvie with his huge pineapple spray of red curly hair is the big silly clown, Imogen Stone is an ultra-poised ultra-feminine aerialist, while Zane Jarvie is an acrobat and juggler.

On the huge stage of Assembly Roxy Laser Kiwi have allowed themselves to dream big. They are known for a very precise and funny routine involving a martini glass and an olive, which features in this show but also acts as a motif (Degge becomes a human olive scampering around the stage with such glee that he builds up an audience following and almost becomes the leader of a new religious movement).

Imogen performs a stunning and precise rope act which will make you gasp with its beauty. Zane, as well as performing the eponymous olive routine, also delivers a flip chart guide to human sexuality – emphasising tolerance, with the repeated slogan “Love Is Love”.

Laser Kiwi change up their traditional circus skills with hip-hop music, recurring jokes, poetic slogans and clever stage and lighting tricks. There’s even a section which requires the audience to put on 3D glasses for an extra special special effect.

It’s an ambitious and spectacular show but Laser Kiwi retain a loveable folksy charm which encourages us to see the personality and not just the skill. The finale is clever, beautiful and extremely silly all at the same time – exalting the humble olive as a symbol of hope. Claire Smith

Mark Watson: Search, Pleasance Courtyard, (Venue 33) ***

Until 27 August

He’s always been self-deprecating but Mark Watson seems a bit downbeat this year – a divorced dad, with a complicated relationship history and a less than stellar career. Nonetheless he works hard for his audience, bouncing ideas off them and taking suggestions and cues from various people in the room.

His central theme is the Google search – how has it changed us to have the knowledge of the world at our fingertips. Watson’s 13-year-old son has just acquired a smartphone – which is what sparked the comic to think about the effect this technology has on our world. And his Dad had a scary experience – which has made Watson think about fathers and sons.

Watson wheels around his subject and also takes a look back over his life. He’s been part of the Taskmaster phenomenon, he’s written a few novels, he can still speak a few words of German. Perhaps life isn’t so bad.

What is lovely about this show is the warmth Watson shows towards his audience and how much he loves being here, on stage, in Edinburgh. It’s a warmth that encompasses the whole room. He has a lot of history here. It is special – and so are we, the Fringe audiences. And you can understand why people go back to see him year after year. Claire Smith

Micky Overman: The Precipice, Monkey Barrel Hive (Venue 313) ****

Until 27 August

Should she have children or not is the question posed by Micky Overman’s show. She’s facing her thirties now and in a committed relationship – so everyone is asking her that question and she really doesn’t know the answer. Overman talks about her own experience in a way that illuminates the experience of her millennial generation.

With wit, precision and more than a little mischief, she tells us how it feels to grow up in a time when it became more acceptable to talk about mental health than ever before. Could this actually be part of the reason millennials are so reluctant to procreate? Perhaps it’s the threat of environmental disaster which is holding her and everyone back. Or it could be the way traditional gender roles are changing that’s causing her generation to delay becoming parents.

Overman considers her central question with playfulness and insight. When it comes to love and romance she has a breezily matter-of-fact approach to sex and relationships. Perhaps it’s something to do with her Dutch origins, but Overman’s logical approach to her own love life is cool and refreshingly eccentric.She’s light on personal details and ridiculously self-deprecating on the reasons her boyfriend might have chosen her as “the one”. Her style is frank, rather than confessional, and her thoughts about actual children are unsentimental to say the least.

It’s only when she starts to consider the rise of the robots and whether they will take over Earth that Micky Overman comes to a revelation about what it means to be human. Human beings have no choice but to move forward and, as Overman stares over the precipice, she finally finds the inspiration for how to move into the next phase of life. Claire Smith

Adam Flood: Remoulded, Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive) (Hive 2) (Venue 313) ***

Until 27 August

Happily, Adam Flood's Fringe stand-up debut doesn't live or die on the back of the Auto-Tune processor he routinely sings into. Its quaveringly robotic tones may feature plenty in his hour, but the £300 gadget is just his latest wheeze to try and forge a new identity after various stints as a playground drug dealer, clueless cocktail barman, forgettable indie band bassist and conscience-stricken venture capitalist.

A not-so-proud son of Stoke-on-Trent, or “Clayhead”, and a father whose urgings for him to get his life together are rather undermined by his own failing libido, Flood has a medieval haircut and appealingly energised, upstart manner. His account of his schooldays are memorable for the way they pretty seamlessly escalate from the relatable and knockabout to attracting the attentions of the authorities. And he generally casts himself as someone who lands on his feet or falls on his face with little forethought, always restless for something more.

Whether pumping up the room's energy up with its musical interludes or serving as ironic mockery of Flood's best efforts to self-actualise, the Auto-Tune actually proves a pretty effective gimmick. And he bangs through a considerable amount of autobiography with rascally verve and self-mocking charm. Jay Richardson

50 Midlife Crises to Try Before You Die, Greenside @ Infirmary Street (Venue 236) ***

Until 26 August

Sharon VS is having a midlife crisis and Damian Smith has created one so that he can join the show. With the colourful outfits and warm personas of the 1980s TV hosts that they’ve grown up with, they use this homely little two-hander, staged in a space not much bigger than a living room, to reframe what can be a derogatory phrase as an aspirational idea of self-reinvention.

Short segments of individual stand-up are interspersed with easy-going audience participation, including a “wheel of crisis”, which single man-in-the-front-row Sam, from Cambridge, rolls to discover some amusing things about himself that are definitely true. Sharon reveals the dramatic changes in her life, some more expected than others, and Damian decides it’s time to do things differently.

Their individual sets deploy a light arsenal of double-entendres, play-on-words, smart come-backs and amiable observations that demonstrate a solid understanding of the structure of comedy. At one point there seems to be three ways to have a midlife crisis, rather than 50, so anyone looking for an inventory might have to try harder at making their own. But as a jolly hour of early morning good fun, it’s a cosy way to ease into the day. Sally Stott

Edinburgh Fringe comedy reviews: Laser Kiwi | Mark Watson | Micky Overman | Adam Flood | 50 Midlife Crises to Try Before You Die